Assessing productivity in off-site construction methods of managing engineering and building projects: An operational management approach

This study aimed to investigate productivity of off-site construction through a focus on employee empowerment and with reference to operational management tools and techniques. Three case studies of off-site companies were conducted, with data being collected from semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The results provided validation of nine employee empowerment factors and highlighting links with labour productivity. Statistical process control and cause-and-effect diagrams were found to enhance operational awareness of labour productivity and quality issues

Linking employee empowerment with productivity in off-site construction

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address current knowledge gaps in off-site sub-element fabrication efficiency factors, by identifying an explicit relationship between productivity and employee empowerment. Design/methodology/approach - The research is based on two engineering fabrication-yard case studies that investigate both qualitatively (via analysis of semi-structured interviews that incorporate a five-point Likert scale, with fabrication-product stakeholders), and also quantitatively (via assessment using SPSS statistical analyses to determine significance and trends in the data-set) the relationship between empowerment and productivity. Findings - The results reveal a positive linear relationship in off-site construction between "employee empowerment factors" and, explicitly fabrication-yard "productivity-levels". An especially strong and significant positive correlation is found to exist in resource development, worker involvement, process improvement, and task recognition as they refer to off-site construction productivity. Practical implications - Most academic studies of off-site construction remain largely anecdotal and lack an empirical objective study; as a result, this (fabrication-yard) case-study research provides a useful approach to measure empirically the link between employee empowerment and productivity of off-site construction. Originality/value - Employee empowerment in the construction industry has long been a focus of analyses; however, there remains a lack of consensus and very few studies into the direct relationship between employee empowerment on the one-hand, and productivity in off-site construction on the other-hand. It is argued here that the on-going new research undertaken in the present study will go beyond subjective opinion towards objective measurement of actual performance in off-site construction

Towards Assessing Productivity in Off-Site Building Methods for Engineering and Construction Projects

In the past few decades, the construction industry in many countries has suffered from poor performance and low productivity. The labour-intensive nature of the industry and diminishing levels of specialist skills and craftsmanship have been major factors hampering productivity growth in construction. A key solution for resolving the productivity constraints of traditional on-site (in-situ) construction has been off-site construction, which uses methods such as prefabrication and modularisation in order to improve efficiency and standardise the management of quality. Off-site production is suggested as producing a positive way forward, although many studies are somewhat overly anecdotal and lack an empirical objective means to clearly define the parameters that lead to positive gains. The work described here presents an initial literature review (secondary research) towards addressing the productivity of off-site construction and a(n ongoing) focus on employee empowerment, with reference to operational management tools and techniques; future work shall seek the development of an operational management approach able to go towards an improvement in the performance of building installation in general, and labour productivity in particular

Potential short-term negative versus positive effects of olive mill-derived biochar on nutrient availability in a calcareous loamy sand soil.

In the present work, the olive mill solid waste (OMSW)-derived biochar (BC) was produced at various pyrolytic temperatures (300-700°C) and characterized to investigate its potential negative versus positive application effects on pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and nutrients (P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu) availability in a calcareous loamy sand soil. Therefore, a greenhouse pot experiment with maize (Zea mays L.) was conducted using treatments consisting of a control (CK), inorganic fertilizer of NPK (INF), and 1% and 3% (w/w) of OMSW-derived BCs. The results showed that BC yield, volatile matter, functional groups, and zeta potential decreased with pyrolytic temperature, whereas BC pH, EC, and its contents of ash and fixed carbon increased with pyrolytic temperature. The changes in the BC properties with increasing pyrolytic temperatures reflected on soil pH, EC and the performance of soil nutrients availability. The BC application, especially with increasing pyrolytic temperature and/or application rate, significantly increased soil pH, EC, NH4OAc-extractable K, Na, Ca, and Mg, and ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA)-extractable Fe and Zn, while AB-DTPA-extractable Mn decreased. The application of 1% and 3% BC, respectively, increased the NH4OAc-extractable K by 2.5 and 5.2-fold for BC300, by 3.2 and 8.0-fold for BC500, and by 3.3 and 8.9-fold for BC700 compared with that of untreated soil. The results also showed significant increase in shoot content of K, Na, and Zn, while there was significant decrease in shoot content of P, Ca, Mg, and Mn. Furthermore, no significant effects were observed for maize growth as a result of BC addition. In conclusion, OMSW-derived BC can potentially have positive effects on the enhancement of soil K availability and its plant content but it reduced shoot nutrients, especially for P, Ca, Mg, and Mn; therefore, application of OMSW-derived BC to calcareous soil might be restricted

Digitally Enabled Modular Construction for Promoting Modular Components Reuse: A UK View

© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Elsevier at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102820UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Grant No. EP/K012398/1 (Infrastructure Business models, valuation and Innovation for Local Delivery (iBUILD) project)